Lesiewicz, Lake Park finish strong

Schaumburg's Pat Lesiewicz showed his hot wheels at the 35th annual Lake Park Invite on Saturday in Roselle.

Lesiewicz pushed the early lead and then ran a blistering final mile to nail down the title with a time of 14:44, holding off Downers Grove North junior Ben Silver (14:49).

Host Lake Park continued its strong early start by winning its second consecutive invite with 36 points, placing five runners in the top 11.

Schaumburg (50 points) and Belvidere North (63) took second and third followed by Downers Grove North (79) and Maine West (151).

Lesiewicz, who finished 13th in Class 3A last season, had company for the first two miles, mainly from Silver. But the senior ran the final mile in 4:51, shaking the Downers North junior to capture the victory.

"I got out pretty well but everyone closed on me," said Lesiewicz of his first two miles. "I tried to keep it steady and have a hard finish. Three hundred meters - that's when I started kicking."

And Silver had no answer.

"He came out blasting," said Silver, who finished 17th in Class 3A last year. "The first mile I knew I couldn't let him get away. The next two miles I tried to push the pace to break his kick down - that didn't work today."

Belvidere North's Paul Zeman (15:01) took third followed by Lake Park's Luke Nally (15:15) and Ryan Jorgensen (15:25).

Lake Park continued to impress with another solid performance. Nally and Jorgensen picked up where they left off after leading the Lancers to the title at the Fenton Invite.

Nally latched onto the lead pack and gutted out the three-mile course.

"It hurt," admitted Nally of the fast pace. "But I came into this race knowing they were going to go fast, they were going to run all-state kind of times.

"But if I could stay with them as long as possible and just finish I should have good time."

And the Lancers received a pleasant surprise from junior John Oldenburg (15:32), who snatched seventh place. Senior Steve Krause (15:39) took ninth and sophomore Kevin Jorgensen (15:47) was 11th.

"Today's confidence is huge," said Lake Park coach Lance Murphy of his team's performance. "Our course is similar to the state course in Peoria with the speed and times. They know now that breaking 15:00 is realistic for the end."

And with Lancers' pack tightening, the expectations are on the rise.

"We try to push each other as hard as we can," added Oldenburg. "We never let the other guy fall back - we push it on."

Schaumburg's pack was also in synch. Following Lesiewicz's lead, the Saxons placed five runners in the top 17.

Junior Connor Prizy (15:29) stepped up with a sixth-place finish, followed by senior Mike Perry (15:49) and junior Pat O'Connell (15:56) in 12th and 14th.

Junior Andrew Cardoza (16:00) completed the Saxons' scoring by notching 17th.

"Prizy kind of established himself as the No. 2 guy," said Schaumburg coach Jim Macnider. "But 3 through 7 we are pretty interchangeable. Any one of those guys could be the third guy."

Schaumburg appears to have rebounded from a disappointing 2008 campaign, and the early results have raised expectations.

"I think we've been underrated all season," added Prizy of the underdog status. "But coming out here today and getting second place will open some eyes."

Downers Grove North also served notice by placing five runners in the top 26.

Silver led the charge for the Trojans, but junior Brian Llamas (15:36) came through with an eighth-place finish, followed by senior Andrew Montague (16:06) and sophomore Kevin Proffitt (16:07) in 21st and 22nd.

Senior Andrew Stawarz (16:16) chipped in with a 26th place.

"We had a good race today," Silver said.

Senior Kevin Schaefer (15:59) and junior Trevor Kelly (16:05) led a resurgent Maine West program by taking 16th and 20th.

"This is a meet we were just working through," said Schaefer of a solid Maine West performance. "We want to set a tone for the next couple of years."

"This has been one of our better teams," added Kelly, "Everyone wants to work."

Sophomore Francisco Gonzalez (15:57) paced South Elgin by taking 15th place.